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I think the quality of the stream is going to depend on a number of factors, and there's no 'one answer'.

Using myself as an example: I have the NBCGold package for Premier League, and my streaming experience has been excellent. In fact, I don't think I ever remember the stream so much as hiccuping once.
That said, I have a 180+ mbps internet connection with Xfinity (aka NBCComcastUniversal - likely getting stream prioritization ) a router with dedicated WiFi bands for my streaming, and dedicated home-built HTPCs that I use for streaming.

On the other hand, if you have Dish Network (which could throttle your connection with the repeal of Title II) and you're streaming Gold to a 4 year old smartphone while someone else watches Netflix on the same router channel, then your experience is likely to be much different.

And of course, there's everything in between.

Speaking for myself, I can't fault the quality of the NBCGold Package or experience - I simply think the paywall limits IndyCar's biggest growth avenue (OTT).

I guess I’m a little confused as to what, exactly, NBC Gold will be streaming. According the graphic in this earlier post, all races, quals, and practices will be streamed live on the non-subscription NBC Sports app. So, what’s the point of Gold?

I find it odd that the streaming on Gold is apparently rubbish. I’ve never had an issue with the streaming on the vanilla NBC Sports app. You’d think Gold would be at least as good.

I guess I’m a little confused as to what, exactly, NBC Gold will be streaming. According the graphic in this earlier post, all races, quals, and practices will be streamed live on the non-subscription NBC Sports app. So, what’s the point of Gold?

I find it odd that the streaming on Gold is apparently rubbish. I’ve never had an issue with the streaming on the vanilla NBC Sports app. You’d think Gold would be at least as good.

I find NBC sports streaming better quality than ESPN currently

I'd rather have 10% of the world interested in the ICS than 50% of US that NASCAR currently has

I have no problem with this, except the fact that going from free to $ is never great, but completely understandable.

I mentioned on this forum years ago that one thing Indycar could do is bundle all track activity and provide it via a pay subscription, instead of worrying about TV networks. I was taken to task back then that it was insane. Well it seems we are a lot closer to that idea than anyone thought back then. I think this is going to be a good thing. If the cost is $50 for the year, that is cheaper than most races. A whole year of all track activity = totatally worth it. $4 a month.

I have dumped all tv "corded" services and have purchased the Hulu package. I maxed the options so I am paying $55ish for that service. It allows full access on the NBCSports app plus allows DVR. I am also paying the lowest cost for internet, which in my area, the "slowest" I can buy is 200MB/sec. So I guess my technical bundle is $120ish. I know I can go with the SlingTV option and get the TV part down to $25. so there are options.

This seems to be the way of the future. I think consumers would rather pay for what they want vs paying a lot for a bunch of stuff they don't want. I'd rather pay $50 for indycar only, vs paying more and getting things I'll never watch. Drive the content to the consumers who want it. Then build up the customer numbers.

I guess Iím a little confused as to what, exactly, NBC Gold will be streaming. According the graphic in this earlier post, all races, quals, and practices will be streamed live on the non-subscription NBC Sports app. So, whatís the point of Gold?

I find it odd that the streaming on Gold is apparently rubbish. Iíve never had an issue with the streaming on the vanilla NBC Sports app. Youíd think Gold would be at least as good.

You need a cable subscription for NBC sports app, with gold just pay the price, plus you get the extra stuff.

My experience with gold in the last 3 years is it is the best sports streaming app out there, works perfectly. Foxsports is really buggy, and ESPN buffers frequently. Gold worked great for TDF.

It depends how busy I am. I usually watch a lot of Indy practice but I didn't last year because of work. Now I work in an office where I almost definitely won't. Now that I have kids it's hard to justify the time spent watching practice and qualifying and not doing something else. I have a hard enough time making time for all the races. I don't think I'll get it just because I don't think I'll have enough opportunity to use it. If I was still single, 100% I'd get it.

Practices are really, really boring, which is why the radio coverage talks about everything except what's happening on the track.* I think a lot of people who pay for NBC Gold will discover they're paying for something that's not worth much.

* Or maybe the practices are boring because the radio coverage is talking about everything except what's happening on the track.

* Or maybe the practices are boring because the radio coverage is talking about everything except what's happening on the track.

I think you hit it on the asterisk. More talk with race engineers and drivers about what they are trying to achieve in the practice sessions would go a long way. Anders Krohn is more than capable to help relay what is going on out there. I love watching IndyCars any time they are on the track so I watch the practices. I have to work hard to tune out the incessant babble on the audio.

Nothing to discuss. Not paying for it. If that means I can’t watch Indycar so be it.

I'm curious as to your reasoning with such a definitive statement.

I'm of the opinion that if properly produced and with perfect quality (ie no buffering or delayed starts to coverage), I'm willing to pay for content above and beyond what is included over the air on NBC and cable.

Because I feel like I pay enough. Directv, Comcast.....etc isn’t cheap. now I have to pay more? No coincidence major sports tv ratings have steadily dropped. You could watch Monday night football over the air, now you have to pay to watch it. I’m done, I love Indycar but I won’t pay extra to watch it.

If Indycar wants my eyes then bring it to me. Not the other way around. I would never pay a penny to watch a car race on tv when I am already paying for what I watch. There are plenty of illegal streams for me to watch.

This is how I've always watched IndyCar here in The Netherlands until it became possible to watch it on ESPN Player for 50 euro's a year. Yes, I'm against having to pay extra money to watch sports but because I like IndyCar really a lot I decided to make an exception for IndyCar in this case. Now with IndyCar going to NBC I'll likely have to go the old way again (I don't mind about this at all to be honest). I still had to use an illegal stream now and then the past years when a practice or qualifying session was broadcasted on NBCSN because we can't get that in my country and with ESPN Player you 'only' had access to all the races + Indianapolis 500 qualifying sessions (and onboard camera's during the Indianapolis 500 mile race itself) both live and on-demand.

To be honest, I appreciate what IndyCar did the past years with these practice and very often qualifying session livestreams but during the Iowa Corn 300 race weekend this year the qualifying session for that race was broadcasted on both the IndyCar YouTube channel and on NBCSN. Instead of going the legal way and putting up the easy to access YouTube livestream I decided to put on an illegal NBCSN stream because I simply like the coverage a lot more. I think that tells a lot, the fact that I chose to search for a good illegal NBCSN stream rather than simply going to the IndyCar YouTube channel.

Because I feel like I pay enough. Directv, Comcast.....etc isn’t cheap. now I have to pay more? No coincidence major sports tv ratings have steadily dropped. You could watch Monday night football over the air, now you have to pay to watch it. I’m done, I love Indycar but I won’t pay extra to watch it.

to be fair, what used to be Monday Night Football is now Sunday Night Football. MNF is the old SNF. SNF was on cable, same as SNF is today

Because I feel like I pay enough. Directv, Comcast.....etc isnít cheap. now I have to pay more? No coincidence major sports tv ratings have steadily dropped. You could watch Monday night football over the air, now you have to pay to watch it. Iím done, I love Indycar but I wonít pay extra to watch it.

Just a minor quibble. Monday night football (The Game of the Week) became Sunday night football, which you can still pick up over the air. And what was the Sunday night ESPN game (lesser quality teams but still primetime) became Monday night football.

I'm paying it because its my favorite sport. Its your money do what you want. But not only is it my favorite sport, its a sport I've spent very little money over the years as I haven't been to a race since they left Cleveland. So I have very few issues coughing up $40 bucks for season. When I lived in Fort Lauderdale I paid approximately $150-200 a year for MLB ticket and 250-350 a year for NFL ticket. $40 is great.

Because I feel like I pay enough. Directv, Comcast.....etc isn’t cheap. now I have to pay more? No coincidence major sports tv ratings have steadily dropped. You could watch Monday night football over the air, now you have to pay to watch it. I’m done, I love Indycar but I won’t pay extra to watch it.

To watch NBCSN, I have to have a cable TV subscription, but on top of that I need to have a more expensive package which includes NBCSN and a bunch of other channels I don't watch, but on top of that I have to pay a "sports surcharge", and now on top of that they want me to pay to watch online (which is also on top of the Internet service I pay for).

So around here, that's $167 per month just to get started. But that's not enough to watch all the IndyCar broadcasts, NBCSN wants me to pay more.

YouTube TV is $40 per month, plus the cost of my internet service which I would have regardless. That is a lot cheaper than the $167 per month Bobcat00 forks out. With my cord-cutting savings I can afford Netflix and Prime subscriptions and still have over $100 left in my pocket. I don't understand why people continue to stick with cable.

Comcast & AT&T in my area have data limits. Comcast has the cap set at 1 TB. If you want unlimited data, it will cost an additional $50.00 a month. When you add in HD & 4K streaming content & kids playing video games on line you go through 1 TB quickly. I’m good with cutting the cord, but these companies aren’t in it to loose money. If you don’t currently have a data cap, just wait.

I just wish they had already announced pricing and allowed us to buy subscriptions by now. The kids always ask me what I want for Christmas and I'm sure they would pay for it as a Christmas present. I'd be happy and they'd be happy.